Welcome to Paradise
by TheArchduchess
Summary: Peeta has led a life of respectable yet uncertain obscurity but when he finds a new life as a receptionist to a hotel resort on a North Atlantic island does he realise just how much he preferred a life of predictability to paradise turned inferno. Peeta/Cato, Alternate Universe
1. Chapter 1

**Readers, here is the first of a multichaptered fic. As per usual I own nothing as The Hunger Games is owned by Suzanne Collins, spelling and grammar mistakes are as per usual my own as I've no beta. This is as you may have guessed going to be somewhat slashy with Peeto as the pairing.**

**This is written after a prompt I've found**

**Write a story about different people being trapped in the elevator. The zombie outbreak has just broken out. At least one or two people know about it in the elevator. What happens next? What do they do?**

**And as they say in show business, the show must go on.**

Peeta Mellark was tired of his life, tired of the uncertainty which seemed to have been present for as long as he could remember. As an adolescent he had always imagined that he would have gotten somewhere in life by the time he was twenty five, in reality he had ended up leading a mediocre life, graduating with good grades and quickly finding work as an administrator when he finished college in a government office. Indeed he has thought he would attend university were it not for the fact his mother saw fit that since he was not going to be a baker for the rest of his life that it was perfectly respectable to throw him on his own resources with almost no time to prepare beforehand.

Consequent of this Peeta given the time he had found respectable lodgings at a Victorian Manor turned boarding house and commenced his _illustrious_ career as an office administrator, this would last for several years until he was twenty five years of age, with nothing of any interest happening that should warrant mention in the following pages.

It was as previously mentioned, some years after his _auto da fè, _he found a position as a hotel receptionist in _The Dispatch_ that he for a moment, if only a little while thought his life would change, he did as fools do and rushed right in. He applied that day for the position as Chief Customer Service Assistant at the Golden King Hotel, the island where this hotel was, was not even in Panem itself, but instead one of Panem's protectorate islands in the Atlantic once possessed by the Franks in days gone by. _Solus Isle_, it was with a group of small islands but nonetheless hundreds of kilometres away from mainland Panem, hence the name Solus Isle meaning alone in Latin. The resort and hotel was on a side of the island only recently built as both a government and private venture to secure tourism in these islands since for some years it had been falling and thus crime rates were soaring on Solus Isle's City, which was on another side of the island to the resort.

The Capitolites, Upper District Dwellers and foreigners alike were as they always had been, were known for eccentricities and a sense of adventure, but of course the _Class Struggle_ which had shown in Panem in recent years that Capitalism could indeed lead to the death of many and leave others destitute, as always as the poor were trapped in a downward spiral as the wealthy accumulated yet more and more wealth.

Saint-Louis, the city of Solus Isle had indeed fallen victim to this vicious economy and cycle, it was a city which was never terribly safe, even with the police presence in the city, even on a lonely island in the Atlantic the gap between the haves and have nots was large and only widening.. Hence the reason why the resort was on the other side of the island, where the island was not yet developed and retained its natural beauty still.

It was only a few short months after his successful application and subsequent voyage to Solus Isle did Peeta realise he would have much preferred his life of respectable obscurity on the mainland.


	2. Chapter 2

**Readers, here is the second chapter I warn you I've not edited this as I've been quite busy and I've no beta, and of course I own nothing as 'the Hunger Games' belongs to Suzanne Collins, do review I do so enjoy reading them, that's all, read on.**

The clock had struck six p.m only moments ago, Peeta had signed off and was waiting outside the elevator usually used by the staff and rarely guests, ready to head back to his room. Beside him were several others, one of them as he recalled worked for the resort too, the head life guard if he was correct, Cato his name was, Peeta rarely saw him being that he worked very long hours and had little reason while working to leave the hotel and the immediate area, even still if he did leave the hotel and had free time on his hands he wasn't likely to go to one of the resorts swimming pools, he preferred the beach. Cato was in good shape, but that may be an understatement. He reminded Peeta of a Greek statue, tall, blonde and handsome.

One of the other three people present was a young girl, she was blonde and reminded Peeta of the women in the covers of adult magazines he'd see in the post office, some years his junior as she appeared, she looked as if she'd been in a fight or something of the sort, most likely Peeta assumed it was an injury from diving, plenty of inexperienced people were known to jump right in and cut themselves on jagged rocks or a diving knife, Peeta assumed his was the case being that she'd a bandage on her left forearm..

The second last person was a grown woman, Ms Effie Trinkett, she was obviously from the Capitol if her hair and attire were anything to go by, considering she was in a garish pink pantsuit and her hair , well her hair most likely wasn't her hair so to speak, being that it was white and had highlights of lime green at the base and to an extent resembled an aristocrats wig. Peeta had spoken to her numerous times and knew she was an event planner.. She was on the whole frivolous and maniacally upbeat, which Peeta couldn't help but admire.

The last man Haymitch Abernathy, upon his check-in about a week ago Peeta had immediately disliked the man, being that he was drunken and boorish and had a tongue to match, he was in all aspects sloven, the maids had even told Peeta he was a filthy person having found his room in a less than respectable state. He had even seen him try to hug Effie much to her dismay.

Peeta nice as he was wished to spend as little time in the elevator with these people as possible, from Haymitch's overwhelming stench of alcohol to Effie's overuse of her suffocating perfume.

"I ought to be going to bed now" said Effie in tone Peeta was quite sure she used always.

"I ought to as well" Replied he

"Yes" stated Effie "We've both big, big, big days tomorrow, don't we"

"I assume so, you're coordinating the charity gala in the ballroom as I recall"

"Oh yes I am. And I want to be perfect for it, don't I?"

"Wouldn't anyone?"

It wasn't long before the doors had opened and the five of them filing in. The air in the elevator was light and cool, the usual tune playing, the group had pressed the numbers for their respective floors and soon the doors had closed and with a jolt the elevator was moving.

It really scared him when it happened, it really did. He wasn't expecting it, of course he wasn't expecting it, he'd fallen to the ground when it happened, he'd hit his head too. Even in the light of the emergency lighting not far from darkness, he could see Effie's terrified face and the young woman's grimace, even Cato lost his balance and surprisingly Haymitch was still standing, bracing himself in the corner.

He just wanted to rest, to quit everything, indeed quit it all, it could be so easy too, to accept the cold embrace of unconsciousness and allow it to take his weary soul to rest if only for a moments respite from the exhaustion of all but running a hotel with the help of only a few others.


End file.
